Adventures of Axel and Larxene: Monstro
by MewtwoWarrior
Summary: This is a silly story following Axel, Larxene, and others as they all get stuck inside Monstro the whale.
1. Chapter 1

Note from the author: Hi, and welcome to my first Fanfic! This started out as an idea for an RP on another site, then I posted it on some Kingdom Hearts forums. The people on the forums requested that I write more, and so I did. I've had a lot of fun writing this story, and I hope you have a lot of fun reading it! This is supposed to be a silly story, so the characters won't be much like their real selves.

"Dear diary, today, Axel and I were sent on a mission. Axel, of course, demanded to drive the Gummi Ship. I didn't really care who drove, just as long as we got where we were going. Well, Axel decided to try out some fancy maneuvers, and we ended up lost in space. As Axel flew the ship around, suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant whale came and ate our ship. I have heard of this whale, who is called Monstro, eating ships before. Only a few people have escaped this fate, I hope we are so..." "Larxene! How long is this going to take!" Axel suddenly yelled. Larxene looked up at him, "For a master of fire, you sure are whiny, does it really take that much effort to hold a simple flame?" Axel had been creating a flame so that Larxene could see while she was writing. Axel frowned, "But I'm hungry..." Larxene rolled her eyes, "There were a lot of fish that came in earlier, you even helped cook them. Why didn't you eat any?" Axel frowned, "I want Cocoa Krispies." he said simply. Larxene sighed deeply, "I know you have a cereal addiction, but now is not the time for it. You need to learn to eat other foods sometimes..." Axel looked at Larxene, "I need Cocoa Krispies." Larxene scowled at Axel, "Get over it, we didn't bring any." Axel looked very stressed, then looked towards the sky, hands raised in the air, "Cocoa Krispies, why did you leave me! Why!" Larxene sighed and ignored Axel. She sat in the dark, wondering what would become of their fate, while Axel bemoaned the absence of his Cocoa Krispies.


	2. Chapter 2

After a while, Monstro opened his mouth, letting in lots of fish, miscellaneous junk, BHK, more miscellaneous junk, and a box of Cocoa Krispies. Larxene went immedately to gather the fish, but Axel chased after the box of Cocoa Krispies. Larxene had an armful of fish when she saw Axel running towards the back of Monstro's throat. She dropped all her fish and ran after Axel. Larxene caught up to him, and grabbed Axel's hood. Axel ran in place for a few minutes until he realized that he wasn't going anywhere. He turned back and looked at Larxene. "Let me go." he said. Larxene shook her head, "No." Axel gave Larxene a pleading look, "But...but...my Cocoa Krispies..." Larxene sighed and rolled her eyes, "Axel, Axel, Axel, if you go after the Cocoa Krispies, you will die." Axel blinked. Larxene replied to Axel's blank stare, "That is a bad thing." Axel blinked again, "But at least I would be with my Cocoa Krispies in death..." Larxene shook her head, "We were sent on a mission together, we are supposed to look out for each other, if I let you die, the superiors would not be pleased..." Axel sniffed and looked at her sadly. Larxene sighed, "Axel, when we get out of here, you can have all the Cocoa Krispies you want. But right now, you can't have any. Think of it as a diet of a sort." Axel sighed in despair, "Oh...all right..." Larxene looked back towards Monstro's mouth, "Well, most everything is gone now, but it looks like there is some stuff left...Let's go see what it is..." Axel sighed again, "Ok..." They both walked back towards the mouth. When they reached the front area, Larxene saw the body of BHK. "Hey...someone else got swept in here too..." She kicked him slightly, "Hey, Ted...wake up!" BHK moaned, and slowly sat up. "Where am I?..." He blinked, "And my name isn't Ted." he said as he sat up. Larxene looked down at him, "Well then, what is your name?" BHK blinked again, "Ummm...ah...eh...I don't really know..." he then frowned, "Wait...I remember something...someone called me BHK before..." Larxene blinked, "Ok...and what does BHK stand for?..." BHK sighed, "I'm not quite sure...but I think it was describing me somehow...Perhaps Big Handed Kid?...No...that isn't right... I have no idea why they would call me BHK..." he said as he ran a hand through his blonde hair. Larxene said, "Ok...then, now your name will be Ted." Axel then spoke up, "Hey! Why do you get to name him! I want to name him!" Larxene looked back at Axel, "Ok...what do you want to name him?..." Axel said simply, "Googlbrxl." "Googlbrxl?..." Larxene and BHK said at the same time. "Yep!" Axel said cheerfully. Larxene smacked her head with her hand. BHK looked up at Larxene, "Eh...I prefer Ted over Googlbrxl..." Axel sighed sadly, "Fine...fine..." Larxene looked at BHK (Ted), "Ok, Ted, welcome to Monstro. Right now, we are all stuck inside here with no way out..." BHK (Ted) sighed, "Great...I have no real name, and now I'm stuck in a whale..." Larxene nodded, "Welcome to our club..."


	3. Chapter 3

BHK (Ted) was rather tired from his ordeal of being inhaled by a whale, so he went to take a nap on some of the piles of rubbish floating around Monstro's mouth. Axel got bored, and went off to a dark corner to look through the trash, perhaps hoping to find a box of Cocoa Krispies. As he was rummaging through the garbage, suddenly, a large pair of yellow glowing eyes appeared. Axel jumped backwards, and the golden eyes simply blinked. "LARXENE!" Axel yelled in a panic. The glowing eyes disappeared as Larxene came over to where he was. "What is it now?..." She asked boredly. Axel pointed over to the pile of trash, "Something over there blinked at me!" Larxene looked at the pile of garbage, "Axel...nothing is there..." Axel glanced over at the pile, "Well...it was there a minute ago..." Larxene rolled her eyes, "Whatever...don't pester me anymore..." she said as she walked off. When Larxene turned her back, the yellow eyes reappeared. When they saw Larxene, they got considerably bigger. The owner of the pair of eyes gasped, "Mewani!" Axel turned around to the garbage, and saw many other pairs of eyes appear. Axel's eyes grew huge, "Yikes! Now there are more of them!" He ran off towards the front of the mouth, yelling all the while. He stopped in front of BHK (Ted). "Ted! Ted! I saw some glowing eyes, Larxene thinks I'm crazy, and then there were more glowing eyes!" BHK (Ted) sighed, still keeping his eyes closed, "Are you sure it wasn't your imagination?" Axel nodded up and down rapidly, "Yesyesyes!" Larxene heard the commotion and went to see what was going on. "Axel! Why are you bothering Ted?" Axel looked at Larxene, "I saw more eyes..." Larxene sighed, "Will you shut up already about the eyes?" Suddenly, from out of the back, a whole mass of Shadows raced towards the group. They spread out in a circle around the three humans. Axel pointed, "See! I told you there were eyes, and now look!" Larxene looked at the Heartless, "Well...this is interesting indeed..." and BHK (Ted) kept on resting. One Shadow, slightly bigger than all the others walked to about two feet in front of Larxene. The Shadow bowed slightly and simply said, "Okopo." Larxene glared at the Shadow, then swiftly moved into an attack position. She summoned her Kunai weapons, and looked at the Shadow threateningly. "Do you want to say that again, punk?" BHK (Ted) opened one eye slowly, "Oh, relax, he just called you 'Leader'." Larxene blinked and looked at BHK (Ted) "...'Leader'...'he'... How do you know what it said and that it is a he? And, why would it call me 'Leader'?" BHK (Ted) yawned slightly, "I learned how to speak Heartless in Twilight Town, and this little fellow has a deeper voice than a female Shadow would... Anyways, your hair kinda looks like a Shadow's antennae…maybe they think you are a giant Shadow…" Larxene glared at BHK (Ted), "How do I know that you are not lying, and you are not a Heartless yourself!" She was now directing her aggression towards him. BHK (Ted) sat up, then hopped off of his perch. He snapped his fingers on his left hand, and the Oblivion Keyblade appeared, with a flash of dark purple light, in his hand. "Is this proof? A Heartless could not summon a Keyblade." Larxene shook her head, "No. That is a dark Keyblade, and a Heartless could perhaps summon it indeed." BHK (Ted) sighed, then snapped his fingers on his right hand, and the Oathkeeper appeared, with a pure white flash of light, in his hand, "There, is that good enough for you?..." Larxene blinked, "Eh...that's a light Keyblade...no Heartless could summon that..." BHK (Ted) nodded, "You think?... Anyways, if the Shadows think you are their leader, then they won't hurt you, or us, if you tell them not to... Now I'm going back to my nap..." He bowed his head slightly, and clapped the two Keyblades together, making them disappear in a sparkle of both purple and white lights. BHK (Ted) then hopped back up on his pile of rubbish and went back to sleep. Larxene then directed her attention back to the Shadows, "Well then...What shall I do with you guys?..." Axel suddenly blurted out, "Shadow-things! Bring me a box of Cocoa Krispies!" The Shadows glanced at Axel, then went back to staring at Larxene. Larxene laughed, "They don't like you!" Axel pouted, "No fair...you got to name Ted...and now you get an army of Heartless to follow you..." Larxene smirked at Axel, "It's because I'm just so much better than you!" Axel grumbled incoherently, then started pouting. Larxene directed her attention to the Shadows, "Loyal followers of me! I am Larxene, your master!" The Shadows looked attentively at Larxene, "Okopo..." they murmured. Larxene continued, "I request that you do not harm in any way me, or my cohorts here. If anyone else comes, you are to immediately bring them to me." The Shadows nodded, "Treui.." they said in agreement, and continued staring at Larxene. "Ummm...that is all..." She said to them, and they kept staring at her. "Uh...you can go now?..." The Shadows continued to stare at Larxene. Larxene sighed, "You aren't a very smart bunch, are you..." The Shadows just stared. Larxene blinked, "Go and wander around this whale you are in, and don't bother anyone." The Shadows nodded, "Treui..." and they melted into puddles of pure darkness, and went about their merry way. Larxene held a hand to her head, "That certainly was different..." Axel nodded, "Yeah...can I play with them some? Pleasepleaseplease?..." Larxene rolled her eyes, "Sure...if you want to play with dangerous Heartless that can kill you..." Axel cheered, "Yay!" then scampered off to see what the Shadows were doing. Larxene sat down, and put her face in her hands, "What did I do to deserve this?..."


	4. Chapter 4

As Axel went off looking for the Shadows, his foot hit something. He reached down to pick it up, and discovered that it was a pack of cards. Axel decided then and there that he was going to teach the Shadows how to play cards. He resumed his search, and finally found a Shadow standing around. Axel smiled at the Shadow and asked, "Do you want to play cards?" The Shadow just blinked and stared at Axel. Axel looked at the Shadow, the Shadow looked back at him. He nodded, "I'll take that as a yes." Axel sat down in front of the Shadow, about two feet away from it. The Shadow continued to stare. Axel opened the box and got the cards out, beginning to shuffle them. As he shuffled, he decided to explain the rules of the game to the Shadow. "Ok... We are going to play Go Fish. I'll deal seven cards to each of us. You pick up your cards and look at them. If you have two cards with the same number, then you place them down. After that, we will take turns asking each other for cards with various numbers, trying to get a match to the cards in our hand. If you have a four, and you ask for it, I will either give you the four I have, or if I don't have a four, I'll tell you to Go Fish. If you are told to Go Fish, then you draw a card from a pile in the middle. You want to have the most pairs at the end of the game." He finished shuffling and looked at the Shadow, "Do you understand?" The Shadow just stared. "Ok, you apparently have no questions, so I guess we are ready!" Axel dealt out seven cards to himself and the Shadow, and he picked up his cards. The Shadow imitated Axel and picked up its cards as well. Axel looked at the Shadow, "Since it is your first time, I'll let you go first, what number are you looking for?" The Shadow said nothing and just stared at Axel. Axel nodded, "Ok, you want a zero..." He looked through his hand, "Drat these Roman Numerals...they are too hard to read... Oh, look! A Soldier Heartless is the Jack of the Heartless suit." The pack of cards Axel had picked up just happened to be the special Kingdom Hearts Final Mix card deck. He finished looking through his hand, "Nope, no zeros, Go Fish." The Shadow just stared at him. Axel looked at the Shadow, "You know, Go Fish, pick up a card." The Shadow blinked, and kept staring. Axel growled, then yelled, "Larxene!" After a few minutes, Larxene showed up. "Axel, what in the world do you want?" "This Shadow is a dolt, he won't Go Fish, even though I didn't have a zero card for him." Axel responded. Larxene pointed at the Shadow. "Go Fish." The Shadow obediently reached down and drew a card. Axel stared at the Shadow, "Wha? How?..." Larxene sighed, "Axel...first off, no playing card deck has a zero card, and secondly, the Shadows only listen to my commands. It thought that 'Go Fish' was a command." Axel frowned, "So, does that mean it won't play cards?" Larxene nodded, "Pretty much, yeah. It would only play cards correctly with me." Axel grumbled, and picked up all the cards, putting them back in the box, "I guess I'll just get Ted to play with me then..." and he walked back to the front of Monstro's mouth. He reached the front, and started looking for BHK (Ted). He found BHK (Ted) rummaging through the rubbish that was piled around. Axel saw him searching, and he said, "Are you looking for something?" BHK (Ted) nodded, "Yeah...I was thirsty, and thought maybe there was some bottles of Grape Juice floating around... That is the greatest stuff ever... Have you seen any?" Axel just glared with a look of pure hatred. "No and no." BHK (Ted) didn't turn around and see Axel's angry face. "No and no? I only asked one question..." Axel then said in a dangerous voice, "Grape juice is not the greatest thing ever. Cocoa Krispies is." BHK (Ted) whirled around, "What. Did. You. Just. Say?" Axel said coolly, "Cocoa Krispies owns Grape Juice any day of the week." BHK (Ted) coughed and sputtered, "What?" he then burst out in laughter, "You are so silly, I thought you just said that Cocoa Krispies were better than Grape Juice. You muct be joking." Axel crossed his arms, "No. No joke." BHK (Ted) looked at Axel, "You must be crazy, Grape Juice is so much better than Cocoa Krispies! The grapeyness, the coolness, it must not be denied!" Axel laughed, "Well...I deny it! Cocoa Krispies are what dreams are made out of. The fluffy chocolate bits are like a pure taste of heaven..." BHK (Ted) stared at Axel, a few tears coming out of his eyes, "That...that was beautiful..." He wiped his face on his sleeve, then continued speaking, "Too bad you are so wrong..." Axel growled and yelled, "You moron! Can't you see that Cocoa Krispies are the meaning of life!" BHK (Ted) said simply, "No." Axel growled, and was about to attack BHK (Ted), when Larxene showed up. "What in the world is the shouting about?" Axel pouted, "Ted says that Grape Juice is better than Cocoa Krispies!" Larxene sighed, "Axel, you are an idiot. Ted, you are right." Axel sputtered, "What? What did you just say!" Larxene looked at Axel, "I'm sick of always hearing about 'Cocoa Krispies this' and 'Cocoa Krispies that', that I'm glad to hear something else is good for a change." Axel pouted, "Well, I still think you are both wrong." Larxene sighed, "Well, that is your opinion, and it obviously isn't going to change. Why don't you and your opinion go sit off, away from Ted, while you cool down. Ted, don't mention Grape Juice again, if you can help it, ok?" Axel stormed off to the corner, and muttered to himself about the blindness of his comrades of the greatness of Cocoa Krispies. BHK (Ted) nodded, "Ok...Man...he sure does take such simple things seriously..." Larxene nodded, "Yeah...but he's worst about Cocoa Krispies..." BHK (Ted) nodded, "Obviously... Well, I'm going back to looking at this junk, maybe there is something useful in here somewhere..." Larxene nodded, "Good idea, maybe I could get the Shadows to help you..." BHK (Ted) shook his head, "Nah...I'll be fine for now." Larxene nodded, "Ok, suit yourself." BHK (Ted) then when about his merry way as he searched through the rubbish, humming the Twilight Town Battle music as he went.


	5. Chapter 5

As time went on, Monstro grew sleepy. He opened his mouth in a massive yawn, causing water to pour in rapidly. The water flowed in faster than it had last time, and it caught everyone by surprise. BHK (Ted) wasn't too badly off, he had been sitting on a large pile of wood. The water didn't even get halfway up his pile. Larxene saw the rush of water, and managed to climb up on another pile of wood, but she got a little wet. Poor Axel hadn't been paying attention at all, and he got knocked over and soaked to the bone. He was washed back to the back, where all the new stuff had come in. The Shadows were surrounding something, and were eeping excitedly. Axel struggled to his feet, slipping in the water several times, till he finally got to the crowd of Heartless. The Shadows had surrounded Sora, who was lying unconcious in the water. Axel blinked, then rubbed his eyes, "Hey! Larxene, Ted! The Shadows found another kid!" BHK (Ted) and Larxene came running until they reached Axel. "Someone else got drug into here too?" Larxene asked. Axel nodded and pointed at the Shadows, "They found some kid with spiky hair lying down...he must have got washed in here too..." Larxene made her way through the hoard of Shadows, they scooted out of the way of their leader, until she reached Sora. She picked him up by the scruff of his shirt, and set him upright. Sora just fell over backwards. Larxene pulled him up to a sitting position again, this time, holding him in place. She looked at the others, "How are we going to wake him up?..." BHK (Ted) looked at Sora, "He'll wake up on his own eventually." Axel looked at BHK (Ted), "But, I want to talk to him now!" BHK (Ted) sighed, "It's probably best to leave him alone..." Axel stared at BHK (Ted), "Why?" BHK (Ted) shook his head, "Because." "Because why?" Axel asked. BHK (Ted) smacked his forehead, "Never mind...Just do what you want..." he said as he walked away, back to his perch on the wood. Axel cheered, then looked at Larxene, "Why don't you zap him, that might wake him up!" Larxene glared at Axel, "You idiot. We want him awake, not dead. And, with all this water, I'd probably end up frying us all. No electricity." Axel blinked, then looked at Sora. "Maybe some fire would wake him up..." Larxene nodded in agreement, "Yeah...he might be cold...there's enough wood to make a bonfire in here..." she said, then saw the look in Axel's eyes. "No! Axel! Don't do what I think you are going to do!" Axel grinned, then set fire to Sora's shoes. Larxene's eyes widened, and she splashed water on the fire till it went out. "Axel, that was stupid! Are you trying to kill him?" Axel blinked, "No, it was just a little fire..." Larxene sighed, "You aren't helping at all..." The Shadows had been creeping closer to Sora, till one reached out and gently poked his cheek. At this, Sora jumped straight up in the air, "Yikes!" then landed rather undignifiedly on the ground. Axel looked at the Shadow, "Good job, little guy! You woke him up!" The Shadow just blinked at Axel. Sora was looking around nervously, "Heartless...freaky people...wet..." he said, his left eye twitching. Larxene looked at Sora, "Don't worry about the Shadows, they listen to me, and I won't tell them to attack you, unless you make me mad." Sora looked up at her, "Then you are a Heartless?" he said uneasily. Larxene shook her head, "No, they just decided I was their leader, they don't seem to be too bright. Anyways, I'm Larxene, the moron over there is Axel, and Ted, the cool guy, is in the front of Monstro. What's your name?" Sora looked at Larxene, then to Axel, "Sora's name is Sora." he stated. Axel blinked, "Ok...but what is your name?" Sora replied, "Sora is Sora." Axel twitched, "I know that whoever is Sora is named Sora, but what is your name!" he yelled. Sora looked up at Axel and sniffed slightly, and pointed at himself, "Sora." he said, his voice quivering. Larxene glared at Axel, "Look, you made him upset! Apparently, his name is Sora, and he speaks in third person." Axel blinked, "There's only one of him." Larxene looked at Axel, "What?" Axel looked at Larxene, confused, "You said he was three people, but there is only one of him." Larxene smacked her forehead and sighed deeply, "Third person, Axel, third person. It means you will not say 'Me' or 'I', but you say your name instead." Sora nodded in agreement, "Sora says Sora!" Axel growled, "That's stupid! So, I would say, 'Axel wants Cocoa Krispies', instead of 'I want Cocoa Krispies'?" Larxene nodded, "Exactly!" Sora's stomach growled, and he looked up at Larxene, "Sora hungry..." Larxene nodded, "There's probably some fish around here, we'll make a meal for everyone." Sora nodded in agreement, "Sora likes fish!" he then got up and started poking through the rubbish. Larxene looked at Axel, "You keep an eye on him, until I need you to fry the fish." Axel grumbled, "Oh...all right..." Larxene went off to the front, looking for fish. Axel looked back at Sora, "What are you looking for?" he asked. Sora glanced up at Axel, "Sora wants a snack..." Axel shrugged, "Whatever...there isn't any food in here, but go ahead and waste your time..." Sora nodded and continued digging through the garbage. Sadly, Axel had forgotten that the wave had brought new garbage, otherwise, he might have found what Sora did. Sora had been searching for a while, until he squeaked happily. He brought out a partially full box of Cocoa Krispies. He munched on them happily until Axel's ears twitched. Axel looked up at the ceiling, concentrating. "Only one food crunches like that..." He sniffed the air gently, "Only one food smells like that..." He looked at Sora dangerously, "The Cocoa Krispies will be mine!" He tackled Sora, and Sora squeaked in fear, but clutched his box of cereal tightly. The two tussled for a moment, pulling the box back and forth. Axel yelled, "Mine!" Sora yelled, "Sora's!" until the box ripped completely in half, dumping the small remainder of the Cocoa Krispies into the water, where they soon flowed out of sight, down Monstro's throat. Axel stared at Sora, then burst out into tears. Sora, upset that Axel was upset, started crying too. Larxene came running when she heard their sobs. "Ok guys, what happened?..." She then saw the torn box in Sora's hand. "Ok...How did that get in here?... It must have come in with the wave and Sora..." Sora looked at Larxene, calmed down some, but Axel was still sobbing. Sora sniffed, "Sora found a box of yummy treats in pile, Axel wanted yummy treats. Axel yelled and attacked Sora. Axel pulled on box, Sora pulled back. Box broke. Yummy treats go bye bye." Larxene glared at Axel, "Stop your whining, it was only cereal!" Axel sniffed, "ONLY cereal? ONLY cereal? You say this about the greatest thing to ever exist in the entire universe?" Larxene sighed, "Axel...your Cocoa Krispies addiction needs to be stopped. You are becoming violent over cereal. I think you are in withdrawl..." Axel nodded, "I need Cocoa Krispies...and he denied them to me!" he said crazily. Sora eeped and hid behind Larxene, peeking around slightly at Axel. Larxene glared at Axel, "Axel, get over it. You need to learn to live without Cocoa Krispies. Now come and help me with the fish. Ted cleaned them, I got them ready, and now it's your turn to cook them!" Axel grumbled, knowing he was defeated...for now. "I'll get my Cocoa Krispies one day, if it's the last thing I do!" he said, as he walked towards the front. Sora came out from behind Larxene, and she asked him, "Are you ok?" Sora nodded, "Sora is fine. Sora just a little scared." Larxene nodded, "Axel can be scary when it comes to Cocoa Krispies. Would you like me to send some Shadows with you as bodyguards." Sora shook his head violently, "Sora doesn't like Shadows! Sora usually whacks Shadows!" He summoned his Kingdom Key and showed it to Larxene. Larxene shook her head, "Don't whack these Shadows, they won't hurt you, if you won't hurt them. If it would make you feel better, I'll tell them to stay away from you." Sora nodded, "Sora would appreciate that..." Larxene looked at the Shadows hovering nearby, "Shadows, please stay away from Sora, he's not used to your kind. He would like it if you wouldn't come near him. Spread the word to the others." The Shadows nodded, melting into puddles of darkness and vanishing. Sora breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled at Larxene, looking very much relieved. "Thanks..." he said. Larxene nodded, "You are welcome. Now, let's go make sure Axel doesn't burn the fish..." and they walked off together, to the front of the whale.


	6. Chapter 6

Larxene and Sora reached the front of Monstro's mouth. BHK (Ted) had moved some of the wood into piles around a small fire. Axel was cooking some fish on the fire that he had created. As Larxene and Sora walked up, BHK (Ted) looked at them, "It'll be a few minutes till the fish is ready, Axel just started cooking them. Axel nodded, then grumbled, "I wish I had some Cocoa Krispies instead of fish..." The others just ignored him. Larxene and Sora sat down on some of the wood around the fire. Axel scooted back to also sit down on some wood closer to the fire so that he could watch the fish. They were all sitting around the fire silently, until Sora spoke up. "Sora wants to know how everyone got in Monstro. Sora isn't sure how he got here... Sora thinks he was swimming, then there was a flash of light." BHK (Ted) nodded, "That sounds like what happened to me... But what about you guys?..." he looked at Axel and Larxene. Axel spoke up, "We're on a secret mission!" Larxene glared at him, "Axel! You idiot! If it is a secret mission, then we shouldn't tell anyone about it!" Axel looked at Larxene sadly, "But..but...they're our friends! We can trust them!" Larxene sighed, "Oh well...since you already told them that we had a mission...I guess it wouldn't cause any harm to tell them more..." Axel nodded, "Yes, we can tell them what we know!" BHK (Ted) looked at Axel, "Uh...you mean you don't know much about your mission?..." Axel shook his head, "Not exactly..." Larxene nodded, "You see...we work for..a...group called the Organization. Everyone has missions every now and then, and people are usually paired off, there is safety in numbers. For this mission, Axel and I were paired up together. We met up with our base leader Marluxia in Castle Oblivion, and he gave us a short mission briefing. He said that the mission was of utmost importance and secrecy. It was so secret that he told us to go to Traverse Town, then open this envelope." Larxene pulled a plain, white envelope from her pocket. On the back, it was sealed with Marluxia's seal. His seal was pink wax with a fancy M imprinted into it. Behind the M was the image of a scythe, Marluxia's weapon of choice. Axel's eyes widened, "You...you have the envelope!" Larxene glared at Axel, "Be quiet, I'm not done telling the story!" Axel pouted, but kept a steady stare on the envelope. Larxene rolled her eyes, then continued. "So, after receiving our orders, Axel and I went to the Gummi Ship dock. We got into the ship sanctioned for our mission, and Axel insisted on being the pilot." BHK (Ted) interrupted, "Wait...you let Axel be the pilot?..." Larxene looked at BHK (Ted), "Despite Axel's...issues... he isn't too bad of a pilot...if he concentrates... Back to the story... Axel decided to try out some fancy maneuvers...and we ended up getting lost...then eaten by Monstro..." She pointed off to the left, "Over there is the remains of the Gummi Ship...it's nearly intact...but we can't get it to run..." Axel looked at Larxene, "Are you done?" Larxene nodded, "Yeah...that's pretty much everything." Axel nodded, "Good..." He then grinned insanely, "GIMMIE!" and tried to take the envelope out of Larxene's hand. Larxene reacted quickly and stood up, sending Axel tumbling to the ground. Axel sat up, pouting. Larxene looked down at him, "You know our orders! We aren't supposed to open the envelope!" Axel looked up at her, "So? Like Marluxia is really gonna know we opened the envelope early..." Larxene looked at Axel, "Come on Axel...you know Marluxia is smarter than that... He could have set traps in the envelope... It could even blow up if we open it too early... Or...it could self-destruct after we read it, and then we could forget our mission..." Axel looked up at Larxene, "So?... Explosions are cool!" Larxene smacked her forehead, "Not when they kill you... The envelope could be trapped so that if it fell into the wrong hands...or opened not in Traverse Town...it could possibly kill someone! We're not taking any chances!" She clutched the envelope tightly. Axel hopped up, "It won't hurt if we just take a small peek..." Larxene growled, "Yes it will... There is no way to 'peek' in a sealed envelope!" Axel looked at Larxene, "I could just melt the seal..." Larxene sighed, "You dingbat! That could mess up the letter...or whatever... inside! Just leave the envelope alone until we get to Traverse Town!" Axel frowned, "Larxene...what if we never get to Traverse Town? We're stuck inside a whale! Maybe we could complete the mission from inside Monstro!" Larxene looked at Axel, "We will get to Traverse Town. We will not fail this mission." she said dangerously. Axel took a small step backwards, then appeared to gather his courage. He then jumped at Larxene and tried to grab the envelope. Thinking quickly, Larxene yelled, "Shadows!" Some Shadows appeared, and she tossed the envelope to them. "Don't let Axel have the envelope!" Axel, seeing that Shadow with the envelope, turned his attention to the Shadow. He ran at it, "Gimmiegimmiegimmie!" The Shadow just melted into a pool of darkness, then appeared next to Larxene, it handed her the envelope, then it disappeared. "Give up Axel, you can't win!" She said. Axel ran at Larxene, but he was stopped by 3 Keyblades. Sora and BHK (Ted) were blocking him. BHK (Ted) looked at Axel, "Axel...you are going too far... Just calm down..." Sora nodded in agreement. Axel, knowing he was beaten, sunk to the ground. He started to cry, "It's not fair! I don't get any Cocoa Krispies, Larxene gets to name Ted, and now she has the special envelope!" Sora and BHK (Ted) looked down at him, and, seeing he was no longer a threat, put away their Keyblades. Then, BHK (Ted) looked at the fire. His eyes widened, "Oh great! The fish are on fire!" He ran to the fire, and kicked the fish out of it. He splashed some water on them, and they were completely charred black. Sora looked sadly at the fish, "Sora doesn't want to eat those..." BHK (Ted) nodded, "I don't think anyone does..." Suddenly, Axel was next to them. He sniffed the air. "Something smells good..." BHK (Ted) looked at Axel, "Uhh..the only thing I smell is burnt fish..." Axel sniffed the fish, "That's where the smell is coming from! I want it!" Larxene, BHK (Ted), and Sora all gave each other odd looks, then BHK (Ted) said, "I guess you can have them...but you have to help us cook some more fish." Axel looked at the fish, then back to BHK (Ted). "You've got yourself a deal!" Axel grabbed a big handful of charcoaled fish and started chowing down. He then spoke with a full mouth, "This is great!" he swallowed, "But not as good as Cocoa Krispies..." and continued to eat the rest of the fish. BHK (Ted) held out some fresh fish he had picked up while Axel was eating, "Here, cook these...you can char whatever that is not eaten by everyone else." Axel nodded enthuastically, then started cooking the fish. They didn't get burnt this time, instead they were a nice golden brown. Larxene, BHK (Ted), and Sora ate their fill of the fish, and there was one left. Axel took the leftover fish and burnt it to a crisp. He then happily munched on it, till it was gone. The small group continued to sit around the fire, enjoying its warmth.


	7. Chapter 7

The group sat around the fire for a while, until some water flowed by and put it out. Axel looked around, "Hey! What happened?..." BHK(Ted) looked over where the water had come from, "Uh oh...Monstro's mouth is opening..." Larxene's eyes widened, "We better get ready then...we don't want to be washed away. "Hey! Up here!" they heard a voice, and saw that Sora, while they were talking, had climbed up on a large pile of timber. "Sora thinks it will be safe up here!" he called down to them. BHK(Ted) nodded, "Yeah...climbing up on the piles of wood have kept us safe before..." and started climbing up. Axel and Larxene followed, and they all sat on the top of the pile, waiting for things to calm down. They watched Monstro's mouth open, and to their surprise, a Gummi Ship flew in crazily. BHK(Ted) blinked, "Hey...listen..." everyone stayed silent as they listened, and they could hear insane yelling from the Gummi Ship. Sora looked at the others, "Sora thinks that whoever is in there is in trouble..." Larxene nodded, "Yeah...it sounds that way... Poor guy sounds like he is screaming in pain..." Axel nodded, "We need to help him out..." BHK(Ted) looked at the others, "Yeah, but we have to wait for the water to go down, or we'll get washed away, and can't help him..." The water slowly decreased, and the Gummi Ship landed at an odd angle on a bit of dry land. The group quickly climbed off their perch and ran over to the Gummi Ship to see if they could help. They stood around, not sure what to do, when the door suddenly popped open. "Whooo-hooo! That was awesome!" a voice yelled, then a guy with spiky blonde hair jumped out of the ship, looking rather pleased with himself. Axel, Larxene, BHK(Ted), and Sora all blinked. The newcomer looked at them all, "Oh, hello there! You must be fellow thrill seekers, pleased to meet you!" Larxene looked at the guy, "So...you're not hurt?" The guy laughed, "No, I never get hurt while Whalesurfing!" Larxene blinked, "Whalesurfing?..." The guy nodded, "Yeah, Whalesurfing is the newest extreme sport. What you do is fly your Gummi Ship around the whale, get it to open its mouth, then you fly in. If you make it out again alive, you win!" the guy grinned. Larxene looked at him, "You. Are. Crazy! We all got stuck in this stupid whale by accident, and you just put yourself in here on purpose! Why would you do something so stupid!" The guy laughed, "You have no sense of adventure... Whalesurfing is just that! Relax and enjoy the ride." Larxene smacked her head, "We are all probably going to die in this whale, and you are enjoying it... great..." The guy laughed, "Die? I think not!" Larxene glared at him, "You're being annoying. Stop it." The guy looked at Larxene, "I've Whalesurfed before, there's nothing to it. When the whale opens his mouth again, you just fly right out, good as new." Larxene blinked, "You think you can actually fly out of here that easily?..." The guy nodded, "Sure!" Larxene then pointed to his Gummi Ship, "Better change your thinking, your Gummi Ship looks like it could use some help..." She was right, for when the ship had landed, one of the wings had gotten bent and it broke. The guy smiled, "Oh, that? That can be easily fixed with some whale rubbish and some equipment in my ship." He walked over to it, "By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet, my name's Cloud Strife." Sora smiled, "Sora is glad to meet you Mr. Cloud, Sora's name is Sora." Cloud blinked, "Uh...Sora?... You can just call me Cloud." Sora nodded, "Ok, Sora will call Cloud, Cloud!" BHK(Ted) nodded, "Hi Cloud, right now, my name is Ted." Cloud blinked, "What do you mean, right now?..." BHK(Ted) sighed, "I forgot my name, so they dubbed me Ted. It's better than Googlbrxl..." Cloud nodded, "I see..." even though, he didn't really get it. Larxene looked at Cloud, "The name's Larxene, it's nice to meet you...I guess." she still thought he was an idiot. Cloud nodded to Larxene, then turned to Axel. Axel was staring at him. Cloud looked at Axel, "And your name is?..." Axel continued to stare. Cloud waved his hand in front of Axel's face, "Uh...hello?..." Axel kept up his unwavering stare. Cloud blinked, "Dude...what is your problem." Axel then opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then finally spoke. "You. Have. A. Last. Name." Cloud blinked, "Ooookaaayyyy..." Axel looked at Cloud, "No one else here has a last name..." Cloud blinked again, "Annnddd..." Axel nodded, "It's weird." Cloud sighed, and decided to drop the issue, "What is your name, anyways?" Axel grinned and looked pleased with himself. "I'm Axel!" he announced. Cloud nodded, "Ok then...we've got Sora, Ted, Larxene, and Axel, right?" The group nodded. Cloud stretched his arms, "Ok then...well...I'm going to have a snack..." He climbed into the Gummi Ship, rummaged around, and came back with a box of Cocoa Krispies. Axel twitched. Cloud looked inside the box, "I have just enough left for a few mouthfuls..." Axel twitched again, and suddenly, Cloud found himself flat on his back, with Axel sitting on top of him. Axel had the box of Cocoa Krispies, and was staring at it insanely. "Mine." he said. Cloud growled, "Hey! What do you think you are doing! That's my snack! What are you doing on top of me anyways!" "Mine!" Axel responded. Larxene sighed, "Axel is addicted to Cocoa Krispies, forgive his behavior..." She snapped her fingers, "Shadows!" A few of Larxene's Heartless followers appeared, "Get the Cocoa Krispies, please." The Shadows nodded and walked towards Axel and Cloud. Cloud blinked, "What are those Heartless doing here!" Larxene looked at him, "Relax, ok? The Shadows think I am their leader, so they will do what I tell them." Cloud sighed, "I don't really trust you...but if they'll get Mr. Crazy off of me, that's good enough..." Axel was staring at the Cocoa Krispies, when the Shadows grabbed it. "Mineminemine!" Axel hollered, and the Shadows squeaked a bit. They played tug-of-war over Cloud's head for a bit, when, suddenly, the box broke. The small amount of Cocoa Krispies that were left fell into Cloud's mouth. Cloud quickly ate the Cocoa Krispies, and grinned at Axel, "I win!" Axel twitched, "Nooooooo!" he looked like he was going to attack Cloud, but then BHK(Ted) pulled Axel off. "Stop it!" Axel sniffed, "Co..Cocoa...Kri..Krisp...Krispies..go...bye bye..." he burst out sobbing. Cloud stood up and brushed himself off. "That was certainly interesting..." The Shadows looked up at him. He scowled at them, "Scoot, you little buggers..." The Shadows just stared at him. "Eh...Larxene...what are they doing?..." Cloud asked nervously. Larxene looked at the Shadows, "Hmmm? Oh, yes! Shadows, good work. You can go about your business now." The Shadows nodded, then melted into the darkness. Cloud looked at Larxene, "They really do follow your every command..." Larxene nodded, "Yeah...they're kinda...dumb." Cloud laughed, "Most Heartless are..." Meanwhile, Axel was still sobbing. Larxene rolled her eyes and sighed. BHK(Ted) then walked over to Cloud, "Hey, Cloud!" Cloud looked at him, "Yes, Ted?" BHK(Ted) looked at Cloud, "Well...I was wondering, could you give all of us a ride out of here on your Gummi Ship?" Cloud sighed, "I would love to, but I've only got enough room for two passengers..." BHK(Ted) sighed too, "So two of us would have to stay here..." Cloud nodded, "Yeah..." Larxene looked at Cloud, "Hey! You can fix any Gummi Ship, right?" Cloud nodded, "Most of the time...why?..." Larxene nodded, "Good...see...Axel crashed our Gummi Ship inside the whale, over there..." she pointed to a large heap of metal. Cloud blinked, "My goodness! It certainly looks crashed..." He walked over to it, "Hmmm...but not unfixable...most of the important stuff is intact, with the equipment I have, and stuff we can probably find...I can most likely fix it in a short amount of time." Larxene smiled, "That's great!" she looked at BHK(Ted), "Ted, that means nobody will be left behind, me and Axel will leave in our ship, and Cloud can take you and Sora!" BHK(Ted) cheered, "Hooray!" Sora heard too, "Sora is so happy now!" he smiled. Axel, was still sobbing. Larxene walked over to Axel, "Hey, Axel!" Axel looked at her, tears running down his face. He sniffed, "What?..." Larxene smiled, "Cloud can fix our Gummi Ship!" Axel shrugged sadly, "So?..." Larxene sighed, "If he fixes it, we can go home." she thought for a minute, "And you can get some Cocoa Krispies when we get home." Axel perked up immediately, "After we get out, I can get some Cocoa Krispies?" Larxene nodded, "Yep! First we have to go to Traverse Town to finish our mission, then you can have all the Cocoa Krispies you can eat." Axel cheered, "Hooray!" He ran over to Cloud, "Fix it! Now!" Cloud looked at Axel, "First, I have to fix my own ship, then, I'll fix yours." Axel pouted. Cloud sighed, "Look...it'll take a while, you'll have to be patient." Axel continued to pout. Cloud groaned, "It won't take forever, I promise, you'll get your Cocoa Krispies soon." Axel smiled, "Okay!" and walked off to stand with the others. Cloud walked back to his own ship. "First, I need some rest, I've been flying for a while." He got into the ship, and closed the door. Larxene smiled at all the others, "Just think, soon, we'll be out of here!"


	8. Chapter 8

After Cloud had rested for a while, he opened the door to his Gummi Ship, and walked out. First thing he saw was Axel staring at him. "Eh...what are you doing?" Cloud asked, not sure he really wanted to know. Axel looked at Cloud, "Waiting for the ships to be fixed." Cloud blinked, "Ummm...Axel... It's going to take a while, you'd probably be better off doing something else. Axel shook his head, "Nope! I wanna watch!" Cloud sighed, "Ok...but you better not get in the way..." Larxene, BHK (Ted), and Sora were all around the fire again, and cooking some of the fish that had floated in last time Monstro opened his big mouth. Sora saw Cloud come out, and he shouted to him, "When Cloud is ready, Sora and friends are cooking fish for lunch!" Cloud nodded, "Ok, thanks!" He then turned to his ship, "Ok, let's see what the damage is..." he bent down and started analyzing different areas of the metal. Axel then made a noise, almost a cough. Cloud ignored Axel and kept looking around. Axel made the noise again, and Cloud came out from underneath the ship, "Yes, Axel?..." "Is it fixed yet?" Axel replied. Cloud blinked, "What?..." Axel looked eager, "The ship, is it fixed yet?" Cloud sighed, "No Axel, I don't even know what's wrong with it." Axel sighed, "Oh...ok..." Cloud went back underneath, and a few minutes later came out again, "Well...that all looks ok..." before he could finish his sentence, Axel asked, "Is it fixed yet?" Cloud growled slightly, "No Axel, the ship is not fixed." Axel nodded, "Well, you better get to work then, if you want to fix it. You can't just stand around talking all day." Cloud sighed, "I'm working on it." he said, rather shortly. Cloud looked at the wings of the ship, "Ah ha! The wings are cracked and no longer straight... With all this wood in here, I can brace them so that they'll work again..." Cloud muttered to himself. "So...does this mean it's fixed yet?..." Axel asked, yet again. Cloud growled an answer, "No...but I do know at least part of the reason it's not working." Axel looked at Cloud, "Well?..." Cloud looked at Axel, "The wings are broke, I need to get some of the wood in here to fix them." He thought for a moment, "Hey, Axel, would you like to help?" Axel nodded eagerly, "Yeahyeahyeah!" Cloud held out his hands, about three feet apart, "Could you bring me some pieces of wood about this long?" Axel nodded, "Ok!" and wandered off, looking at all the wood lying around. Cloud sighed in relief, then went back to his analysis of his ship. When he opened the compartment with the engines, Cloud discovered that some of the wires had come loose, so he put them back in their places. "That should do it...now all I have to do is fix those wings..." He laughed to himself, "Not too bad...usually I have to fix a lot more things when I Whalesurf, I must be getting better..." Axel came back to Cloud with an armful of wood. The only problem was that all the pieces of wood were completely different lengths. Cloud blinked, "Umm...those pieces of wood aren't all the same length..." Axel nodded, "I know. I forgot what size you wanted, so I brought a whole bunch for you to sample. Kinda like a store. Axel's General Store." Cloud sighed, "Just give me the wood, so I can see if any of it is useful..." Axel handed over the wood, and Cloud looked the pieces over. Some of the pieces of wood were really short, while others were pretty long. But none of them came close to the size Cloud needed. Cloud sighed, "Axel..." he began, but Axel interrupted. "Manager." "What?..." Cloud replied, "What does that have to do with anything?" "I'm the manager of Axel's General Store, so you should call me Manager Axel." Cloud sighed, "Fine...Manager Axel, none of the lumber you stock here fits my specifications." he said, playing along. Axel nodded, "Well, we have a large selection of wood, you can come to the back and find what you need." Cloud nodded, "Ok, I think I'll do that." Axel replied, "Ok, right this way." and led Cloud, even though Cloud knew perfectly well where all the wood was, to 'Axel's General Store's Lumber Yard'. Cloud looked around and found four pieces of wood all around the length he needed. Axel looked at Cloud, "Will that be all, sir?" Cloud rolled his eyes slightly, "Yes, Manager Axel, that's all I need..." Axel smiled cheerfully, "Ok, thank you for shopping at Axel's General Store! Have a nice day!" Cloud forced a smile, "You are welcome, thanks." he grumbled slightly, then went back to his Gummi Ship, Axel following along behind. "Is it fixed yet?" he asked, dropping his Manager attitude quickly. Cloud sighed, "No it's not fixed yet, but it will be soon." Axel nodded, "Good." Cloud went into the Gummi Ship and came out with a roll of duct tape. Axel blinked, "You're going to fix the ship with duct tape?" Cloud nodded, "Sort of. This is special duct tape for emergency fixes for Gummi Ships, it's designed to hold longer and not leave any sticky on the ship so you can repair it later." Axel stared at it, "Cool! Can I see it?" Cloud looked at Axel, "Only if you don't want my ship fixed." he said, rather dangerously. Axel looked a bit scared, "Ok... I'll just look at it later..." he said. Cloud nodded, "Good." and went back to work. He placed one piece of wood on the top of the first wing, and a piece of wood on the bottom of it. Cloud then took the duct tape and wrapped it around it all, until the wood was on there good and snug. He repeated the process on the other wing. When he was done, Cloud stepped back to admire his handiwork. Axel poked Cloud, "Is it fixed yet?..." Cloud nodded, "Yes Axel, I think it's fixed now." Axel cheered, "Hooray!" Cloud smiled, "I just have to test it now..." he went in and started the ship up. The ship then started flying upwards, floating at a slow rate. Cloud then directed the ship back down. "Yep, it's working!" Axel danced in a circle, "Yay! Now you need to fix mine and Larxene's ship, and then we can leave here!" Cloud nodded, "Yeah, but first let's eat, I think the fish is done cooking." Axel nodded, "Ok..." and they both went up to the group. BHK (Ted) greeted them, "Hey guys, did you get you ship fixed, Cloud?" Cloud nodded, "Yeah!" Axel smiled brightly, "And I helped too!" Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes. Larxene looked at Axel, "No you didn't, I watched you, and all you did was act weird, like usual." Axel pouted, but didn't retort. Sora looked up at Cloud, "Sora thinks the fish is ready now!" Cloud smiled, "Good, I'm hungry!" Axel nodded, "Me too...I'm hungry….hungry for Cocoa Krispies..." Larxene sighed, "Don't you dare start that again Axel. All we have is fish." Axel sighed, "I know, I know...but when we get out of here, I'm gonna eat Cocoa Krispies until I can't eat any more..." Larxene sighed, "Fine, you do that." Axel smiled, "I will!" Cloud and Axel then too sat around the small fire, and BHK (Ted) passed out fish to everyone, and they all ate a good meal.


	9. Chapter 9

After Cloud had finished eating the fish cooked by Sora, Larxene, and BHK(Ted), Axel looked at him expectantly, "Is it time to fix our Gummi Ship?" Cloud nodded, "I'm going to take a look at it and see why it isn't working..." Axel looked over to where his and Larxene's ship had crashed, "It looks pretty bad..." Cloud nodded, "Yeah, but that doesn't mean it isn't unfixable, the outside is mostly for armor and for show. It can fly without too much armor, but that isn't always the best idea." Larxene looked at Cloud, "Do you know if Traverse Town has any shops that fix up Gummi Ships? Ours was given to us for this mission only by Marluxia, the leader of Castle Oblivion. He probably wouldn't be too happy to see it in this shape..." Cloud thought for a moment, "One of my friends is really good with Gummi Ships; he might be able to fix it. But, he travels between Traverse Town and Hollow Bastion a lot, helping with the resistance against the Heartless. If he's in Traverse Town, tell him that you are friends of mine, and he can probably help you out, his name is Cid. If he's at Hollow Bastion, where I'll be going, I'll tell him about your predicament." Larxene smiled and nodded, "Ok, thanks, that'll be really helpful!" Sora looked at Cloud, "Can Sora come to Hollow Bastion too? Sora wants to fight evil..." BHK(Ted) nodded, "Count me in too!" Cloud nodded, "Sure, our resistance needs all the help we can get... Maybe if we work together, we can finally stop the Heartless..." Larxene's Shadow followers eeped nervously, they didn't want to be eliminated. Larxene looked at them, "I suppose we could spare you guys, you all seem pretty harmless..." The Shadows looked relieved at this, then Larxene spoke again, "But if you steal anyone's heart, we will have no choice but to stop you for good..." The Shadows nodded heartily, they would obey their leader, for she was their leader, and they didn't want to disappear forever. Cloud shrugged, "Hey, you never know, they might even be useful against other Heartless..." Larxene shrugged, "That's possible..." Cloud looked at Axel and Larxene, "You two are welcome to come with us to Hollow Bastion, once we get your Gummi Ship working." Larxene shook her head, "I'd really like to help fight the Heartless with you, but we have to finish this mission, and we're running really late as it is..." Axel nodded, "Yeah..." Cloud nodded, "I thought you would say something like that, I don't hold it against you, perhaps if your mission doesn't take too long, you can come and join us, better late than never." Larxene nodded, "Yeah, we might be able to swing by Hollow Bastion after our mission." Axel nodded, "Yeah! I'd like that!" Cloud smiled, "Good! Well, let's get around to see what's wrong with your ship..." Cloud walked over to the beat up Gummi Ship, Axel following close behind. Cloud turned around, "Are you going to pester me again?..." Axel nodded, "Yep!..." Cloud frowned at Axel, and Axel stammered, "I mean...no..." Cloud nodded, "Good...you can watch...but stay out of the way, and don't touch anything, unless I ask you to. Got it?" Axel nodded, "Yeah..." Cloud turned to the heavily dented Gummi Ship, and he walked around it, inspecting the armor. "Good news is that the armor wasn't breached, there are no holes, just a lot of dents and scratches." He pressed the button to open the door, and walked inside the Gummi Ship. He hit the light switch, but the lights stayed off. "Hmmm...the power's busted..." Cloud commented. He then made his way to the control panel. Squinting in the faint light, Cloud could see that the control panel was mostly good, a little crumpled, except for the control stick. The control stick was broken in half. Cloud nodded and picked up the broken piece. Walking out of the ship, he looked at the useless control stick in his hand. Axel looked at Cloud, "What's that?..." Cloud showed the control stick to Axel, "The control stick broke, but I think I can make a new, temporary one, out of the wood in here." Axel nodded, "Sounds good..." he murmured, even though he didn't really have a clue what Cloud was talking about. Cloud held out the control stick to Axel, "Hey, could you hold this for a minute, while I find a suitable replacement piece of wood?" Axel nodded, "Sure!" As Cloud walked off, he thought he could hear Axel quietly counting, "One...two...three..." Cloud shook his head; he would never understand this Axel guy. Cloud climbed up one of the big piles of useless lumber, hoping to find some dry wood near the top. One he reached the top, he started digging around, looking for one of the right thickness. As he was searching, he heard Axel yell, "Sixty! The minute's up!" Cloud shook his head, "Axel! 'Just a minute' is a figure of speech! It means that it won't take long!" he shouted down to Axel. Axel blinked, "Oooooohhhhhh..." he said quietly, and went back to looking at the control stick. Cloud finally found a piece of wood that was about the right length and width. He brought it down and set it down on a reasonably dry pile of wood. Cloud walked back into the Gummi Ship and managed to take out the rest of the damaged control stick. When Cloud came back out, Axel looked at him, "How are you gonna cut the wood?..." Cloud smiled, "I'll show you..." and pulled out his big sword. Axel blinked, "You're going to use that..." he pointed at the gigantic sword, "to cut that..." he pointed to the rather small control stick. Cloud nodded, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "Yep!" Axel blinked, "You're nuts..." Cloud laughed, "You'll see..." He set the control stick down next to the piece of wood he found, lining the broken pieces up as best as he could. With a mighty swing, he cut the piece of wood to be about the length of the control stick, then simply put his sword away. "That's it?" Axel asked. Cloud laughed, "Not exactly, I've got some smaller tools that I can use to trim it in my Gummi Ship; it's just easier to cut it to size with the Buster Sword." Axel blinked, "Ah..." Cloud chuckled, and took the broken control stick and the wood to his Gummi Ship. "It'll take a few minutes; I've got to trim the wood in my ship, because the lighting is better there. Cloud then went into his ship and got his tool kit. Pulling out a small knife, Cloud began to shape the rectangular lumber into a round, cylindrical control stick. After about ten minutes, Cloud came back out with the new control stick, the now polished wood gleaming in the dim light. Axel looked at the new control stick, "Wow that looks great!" Cloud nodded, "Thanks!" He went into the Gummi Ship and inserted the new control stick. Rotating it, and making sure it was secure, Cloud left the new Gummi Stick in its new home. Then, Cloud looked at the control panel. Locating the communicator, he memorized its identification number "Org812...got it... Now I can contact them if I need to..." He then walked out of the ship. "Now to see about the power..." Axel looked at Cloud, "What runs the power?..." Cloud looked at Axel, "The Gummi Ship engines supply all the power the ship needs..." Cloud walked around to the engines, "Your ship has two engines...so that means that either one or both engines are damaged... Two engine ships are small and light, but they require a lot of power, so both engines are necessary to run it." Cloud pulled out some odd looking goggles from his pocket. "What are those?" Axel asked, curious. Cloud looked at Axel, "They are goggles that let me see in the dark a little better, I always have a pair of goggles in my tool kit, it's dangerous to stick your hand or head in a Gummi Ship engine. The Gummi Ship engines are powered by special Gummi Blocks that heat up to extreme temperatures. Even deactivated Gummi Engine Blocks can still be very hot, depending on the engine." Axel nodded, a blank look on his face. Cloud knelt down and carefully looked in the first engine, "Ah...you're in luck, at least one of the engines' power sources is intact, and even luckier, it's a Firaga-G class, I have some extra Firaga-G power cores in my ship, that's what my ship's engines use." Axel nodded blankly again. Cloud then looked into the other engine, "Wow...this engine's power core appears to have exploded... There are lots of black char marks, and some fragments of the power core are lying about loose..." Axel looked at Cloud, "Is that bad?..." Cloud thought for a moment, "It is bad, but not unfixable, like I said, I have extra power cores, I just have to bring one out, clear the debris, and place the new one in. I'll be right back..." Axel nodded as Cloud went back to his Gummi Ship. Shortly, Cloud came back out, wearing heavy gloves and carrying a clear cylindrical container. Inside the container was a medium-sized glowing red stone. Axel saw the glowing stone, "Shiny!" he exclaimed, and ran over to Cloud, trying to peer into the container. "Stop it!" Cloud yelled, "It's very, very hot, and very, very dangerous, don't touch it! Even the container is superheated! You must have special gloves to handle one of these!" Axel winced backwards from Cloud's outburst. Cloud walked carefully over to the Gummi Ship, and placed the container on the ground nearby. "Don't touch it, it will hurt you." Cloud said shortly to Axel, who was now knelt down, looking intently at the power core. Cloud went over to the engine, and kneeling down, proceeded to wipe the debris of the last power core out of the engine. He turned back to get the power core, but saw the container empty. Cloud blinked, then looked up at Axel. Axel was happily playing with the power core, occasionally tossing it up in the air. "Shiny!" Axel said happily. Cloud blinked long and slow. "Axel...what are you doing?..." Cloud asked, still shocked by what he saw. "I'm enjoying the shiny!" Axel replied. "Axel...don't you know that thing is heated to thousands of degrees?..." Cloud asked. Axel shrugged, "It feels cold to me...not really cold, more like medium cold." Cloud blinked, "Cold...medium cold? What are you talking about? That thing is a Firaga-G, so named after the highest level fire spell! It's inferno hot!" Axel looked at Cloud, laughing, "I'm a master of fire, Firaga is simple!" Cloud then laughed, he had forgotten about Axel's powers. "Sorry about yelling at you, I forgot that you were a flame master." Axel grinned, "It's ok, as long as you let me put it in the engine!" Cloud looked a little nervous, "Ok...all you have to do is push it into the engine until it clicks into place." Axel nodded, "Ok!" and went over to the engine. He knelt down and put the power core into the engine, it clicking solidly into place. "Bye bye shiny." Axel said as he stood up. Cloud looked at Axel, "Let's test it out..." they walked inside the Gummi Ship, and this time, when Cloud flicked the light switch, the lights came one. He walked over to the control console and hit a button. The console glowed to life. Axel cheered, "Yay!" Cloud smiled, "Don't celebrate just yet, we need to see if this thing can fly..." Cloud sat down in the pilot's seat, and Axel sat next to him. Cloud hit a button, and the engine's roared to life. Guiding the control stick gently, Cloud was able to maneuver the Gummi Ship off of the ground. Axel was cheering, and so was Larxene, BHK(Ted), and Sora. Cloud gently set the ship on the ground, and Axel went bounding out, "It works, it works!" he yelled, dancing about a bit. Cloud stepped out as well, not as exuberantly though, but had a big grin on his face. Axel was bouncing up and down in front of Larxene, "Itworksitworksitworks! We can continue the mission and finally see what's in the envelope! We should celebrate with Cocoa Krispies!" Larxene laughed, "Axel...we don't have any Cocoa Krispies!" Axel nodded, "I know, but now we can go and get some!" Everyone laughed with joy, and Cloud nodded, "Yep, Axel, you can now go buy all the Cocoa Krispies you can eat!" This caused everyone to laugh some more. Cloud looked at the group, "How about we all spend one more night in here together, before we all go our separate ways. It could be a long time, if ever, until we see each other again." Sora nodded, "Sora likes that idea!" BHK(Ted) nodded, "Sounds good to me, we can celebrate with...another meal of fish." He laughed, "After this, I don't think I'll eat much fish..." Cloud laughed, "Yeah...I think we all are sick of fish..." Axel blinked, "I could never get sick of burnt fish..." Larxene shook her head, laughing, "Ok, if that's what you say!" BHK(Ted) looked at everyone, "Since we just ate recently, why don't we relax for a bit?" "Sounds good to me!" Axel said cheerfully, and went and sat near the fire that had been built earlier. Larxene, BHK(Ted), Sora, and Cloud also went and sat around the fire, talking cheerfully about their plans after leaving Monstro.


	10. Chapter 10

Axel, Larxene, BHK(Ted), Sora, and Cloud all talked late into the night, they all were very excited to be finally leaving the insides of Monstro. But, they all eventually succumbed to sleep, each dozing off slowly, until only Cloud was left, then he too fell into slumber. All of them had a peaceful sleep, until, Axel woke up. He was the first awake, and he saw the others asleep. He sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. After a few minutes of sitting there, Axel whispered, "I'm bored..." He stood up, and looked around Monstro, hoping to find some entertainment. He came upon the group of Shadows. He looked at them and asked, "Wanna play tag or something?" they just blinked up at him. Axel sighed, "I guess not..." then wandered around, until he couldn't stand his boredom anymore. He walked over to Larxene and nudged her with his foot. "Larxene..." he whispered. She didn't respond, except with a small snore. Axel frowned, and nudged her harder, "Laaarxene..." he whispered again. Larxene mumbled slightly, then rolled over, and gave another little snore. Axel made a slight growl, then nudged Larxene with his foot again, this time nearly a kick, "Laaarrrxxeene..." he whispered. Larxene awoke with a growl, and sat up, looking around angrily. Axel waved happily to her, "Oh, you're awake!" Larxene frowned, and looked around. "Axel... Did you perchance happen to...oh, you know... kick me?" Axel looked at Larxene, "No...maybe... Yes..." Larxene raised a golden eyebrow at her comrade, "May I ask why?" Axel nodded, "I was bored, there was nothing to do, and the Shadows wouldn't play with me." he pouted. Larxene sighed, "Maybe you should go back to sleep..." Axel shook his head, "But I'm not tired!" Larxene sighed deeper, "How can I fly the Gummi Ship to Traverse Town, if I don't get enough sleep?..." Axel frowned, "You said I could fly the Gummi Ship to Traverse Town!" Larxene rolled her eyes, "And where did that get us? Inside of Monstro." Axel looked at Larxene, "That was an accident! How was I supposed to know that Monstro was around!" Larxene looked at Axel, "Because everyone knows this is part of Monstro's territory, and any good Gummi Ship pilot would know that and be extra cautious." Axel frowned, "So I made a little mistake...it was my first time piloting a real Gummi Ship, how can I improve, if you won't let me fly?" Larxene sighed, "Axel..." Axel frowned, "Besides, Traverse Town isn't that all far away, and you said that you couldn't fly when you are sleepy." Larxene looked at Axel, "Well, I could go back to sleep, if you'd stop bugging me!" Axel grinned, "Well...I won't! Then you'll have to let me fly the ship!" Larxene sighed, "Fine...but if you get us in trouble again, I'll take over as pilot." Axel cheered, "Hooray!" and woke up BHK(Ted), Sora, and Cloud. BHK(Ted) sat up and rubbed his eyes, "What's going on?..." Sora sat up, "Sora wants to know too..." Cloud sat up and sighed, "Axel..." Larxene glared at Axel, "See what you've done now? You woke everyone up!" Axel grinned, "Now we can leave sooner!" Larxene sighed, "Axel, Axel, Axel..." BHK(Ted) looked at the others, "I guess since we are all awake, we should get some breakfast before we head out..." Sora nodded, "Sora is hungry!" Axel nodded, "Me too! Let's eat some Cocoa Krispies!" Larxene glared at Axel, "Axel. We. Do. Not. Have. Any. Cocoa. Krispies. Got it?" Axel looked at her, "Sorry...I was so happy about leaving, that I forgot..." Cloud looked at them all, "I think our only option is fish...again..." Axel smiled, "Fine by me!" Larxene sighed, "Like we have any choice..." Sora smiled, "Sora will get the fish this time!" Cloud nodded, "Ok, and we'll get the fire set up!" Sora scampered off, to look for their breakfast, and the others started looking for some dry wood. They gathered a small pile, and Axel set it ablaze. Larxene looked around, "I wonder where Sora went..." BHK(Ted) frowned, "I'll go find him..." He started walking, and heard a splash. BHK(Ted) walked towards the splash, and found Sora trying to pick up a huge fish that was at least as big as him. Sora would lift it partially and drag it a short way, then the slippery fish would fall out of his hands. BHK(Ted) stared at the fish for a moment, "Sora...that fish is huge!" Sora grinned, "Yep! Sora found a big fish for breakfast!" BHK(Ted) laughed, "You sure did..." and he went to help Sora with the fish. They managed to get it back to the others after some difficulty. Axel leaped up from where he was sitting, "Wow! That fish is big enough for all of us to share!" Cloud turned around to look, "Yeah...I think he's right..." Larxene looked at the fish, then at the small fire. "I'll bring some more wood..." When she did so, they added the extra wood and the fire grew bigger. When it was large enough to cook the fish on, Sora and BHK(Ted) dragged it over to cook. Soon the delicious smell of cooking fish filled the air. When they judged it to be just about cooked the right amount, everyone pitched it to pour water on the fire, so that they could get at the fish without burning themselves. When the fire was out, Cloud cut up the fish into equal portions of edible parts with his Buster Sword, while the others created another small fire, just to bring more light and keep warm. They all feasted on the fish, "This is the best fish ever!" Axel declared, and the others nodded in agreement, "Yeah!" BHK(Ted) said. When their meal was over, they all sat around the fire silently. They had just realized that this might be the last time that they would see each other again. BHK(Ted) sighed sadly, "You know...even though we are stuck in a whale...it was fun...and all you guys are great..." Sora nodded, "Yes, Sora likes his new friends very much!" Cloud nodded, "It has been an adventure..." Axel sighed, "Yes...too bad it has to end..." Larxene nodded, "Yeah..." she said, almost tearfully. Cloud smiled at all of them, "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll all see each other again sometime!" Sora nodded, "Yeah! Sora thinks so too!" BHK(Ted) smiled, "Yeah...you are right...we can just always meet on another world or something sometime!" Axel nodded, "That would be great!" Larxene nodded, "Yeah...if we don't have too much work to do..." Axel sighed, "Yeah...but we do get breaks now and then!" he brightened up. Sora stood up, "Sora thinks we should have a group hug before we go!" BHK(Ted) stood up too, "Ok, that'll be a good way to say goodbye!" Axel hopped up, "Count me in!" Cloud stood up slowly, "Sounds a little silly, but I think we should hug too." Larxene stood up, "I guess I'll go along with you guys..." Larxene was actually pretty sad to say goodbye, but she didn't want to admit it; it might make her look silly or something. They all hugged in a great big group hug. Afterwards, Cloud raised his fist, "To friendship and a new adventure!" "Yeah!" everyone else cheered, raising their fists also. Cloud looked to BHK(Ted) and Sora, "Well, you guys are coming in my ship, right?" Sora and BHK(Ted) nodded, "Yep, we're going with you to Hollow Bastion to fight the Heartless!" BHK(Ted) said, and Sora nodded in agreement. Larxene looked at them, "And Axel and I are going to Traverse Town to complete our mission..." Axel nodded, "But we'll try to come to Hollow Bastion afterwards, if we can..." Larxene nodded, "Hopefully we can..." Cloud smiled, "Ok, hope to see you there! It'll be...interesting...to fight by your side!" Larxene laughed, "Same to you!" Everyone laughed, then got in their respective Gummi Ships, the group of Shadows filing into Axel and Larxene's ship. The hatches were closed, the seatbelts buckled, then the engines started. Both Gummi Ships raised into the air. As they flew towards the mouth opening, Larxene realized something, "Monstro's mouth is closed! We can't get out!" Axel frowned, "But...wouldn't Cloud have thought of that?..." Larxene sighed, "Let's see what he does...if we need to, we'll regroup..." Larxene needn't have worried, with an expert shot, Cloud aimed a laser shot above Monstro's teeth. The shot would be harmless to such a big creature, but annoying nonetheless. Monstro growled, and opened his mouth, hoping that whatever had blasted him would leave. The Gummi Ships flew out of Monstro, and into the clear sky. They flew beside each other for a moment, the passengers waving to each other, then blasted off in different directions. BHK(Ted), Sora, and Cloud to Hollow Bastion, Axel and Larxene to Traverse Town. After flying for quite some while, Axel and Larxene arrived at Traverse Town with no further incidents. Axel landed the Gummi Ship gently down and parked it just outside the gate. Larxene laughed as she unbuckled her seatbelt, "You aren't too bad of a pilot, when you aren't showing off!" Axel unbuckled his seatbelt as well, "Thanks! Now, we can open the envelope and see what our mission is!" Larxene nodded, "Yeah!" she pulled the envelope out of her pocket, and Axel was watching intently. Sensing the excitement, the Shadows all moved closer, to see what their master was doing. Larxene opened the envelope, removing Marluxia's seal, and pulled out the letter and began to read:

"Dear Axel and Larxene,

You have completed the first part of your mission by reaching Traverse Town. Excellent work! This part of the mission was critical, but the second part is the most crucial. There is a shop called 'Starbucks' in Traverse Town. I request that you bring me back a Marble Mocha Macchiato espresso drink.

Thankies,

Marluxia"

Larxene blinked slowly, then yelled, "That...that idiot! All our mission was...was...a coffee run! What is he thinking? What kind of mission is this?..." Axel looked at Larxene, "Can I have one too? It sounds good..."

End of Part 1 -- To be continued in The Adventures of Axel and Larxene: Hollow Bastion


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